OAMC: Once a Month Cooking

This weekend I cooked about 30 meals. At some point on Saturday the only thing keeping me going was the thought that I wouldn't have to make dinner again all month if I chose not to!

I've browsed through the many Pinterest pages about OAMC and looked over menu plans and grocery lists until my eyeballs hurt.  Many of the recipes didn't fit in with our eating style and I just wasn't sure where to start, so I put the idea aside. Fast forward to last Thursday when we went out to dinner. Nick of course had just come home from his training with the Army so we decided to celebrate with Macaroni Grill.  It was like the hostess foretold how our quiet rambunctious 23 month old was going to act! We have been fortunate so far to have children who sit through dinner without any problems. She had us sit at the farthest table from anyone way in the corner, which Nick and I thought was rather comical. Of course, about 15 minutes into dinner, while still waiting on our food, Gavin had a mild meltdown relating to the fact he wasn't allowed to get out of the highchair and run around. Nick took him out to the car so Kaileb, Ava, and I could eat. That's when I realized we wouldn't be going out to eat any time soon, like the next 3 years.

Eating out is the option when I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer or not even stopped to think about dinner for the evening. As our family size has grown the last 2 years, I needed to readjust some habits I'd fallen into when it comes to meal planning.

I made a menu plan on Friday morning and wrote out a grocery list accordingly. I tripled all my recipes and did much of my purchasing at Costco and the rest at Wegmans for the organic items and fresh herbs Costco doesn't carry. Then I spent the day Saturday prepping all my vegetables, soaking beans, and cooking chicken in the crock pot so I could easily shred it. I did cook a few meals because I still had some time. Sunday after church and the most fantastic nap ever (thank you Nick) I got to cooking the rest.  I was seriously exhausted after that!

The clean up wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. Nick helped with the dishes and I tried to put everything away as I went. Rocco, our bulldog, helped with the floor cleanup.

All in all, it was successful. My freezer is stocked with healthy home cooked meals for my family.